


not so awful after all

by Siriusstuff



Series: Teodor Claudius Talan Stilinski-Hale [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M, Married Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, OC's only mentioned, Parenthood, parental anxiety, starting school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 16:18:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4144341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siriusstuff/pseuds/Siriusstuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teo's first day of school (well, pre-school.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	not so awful after all

“I don’t like it.”

Derek’s voice was low. If he weren’t in the passenger seat, right beside Stiles, Stiles might not have heard him.

But Stiles was right beside him, behind the wheel of their Prius, and _had_ heard him.

It had to be the thousandth time Derek expressed that particular sentiment. Stiles had stopped counting.

Thousand would be a low estimate. Probably too low.

Stiles had exhausted every argument, every strategy of persuasion. Everyone had. Only Talia Hale, alone in her patience, continued trying to persuade Derek that Teodor would be happy in school.

Not any school but a school werewolves established, a werewolf-approved, werewolf-staffed school, populated with little werewolves.

Teo’s two dads were driving away from _Rising Moon_ , where they’d left Teo smiling tentatively in a little crowd of his peers, while Miss Liling Yu, whom Talia always described as “just precious,” also smiled, accepting a small bouquet of flowers from a student before calling everyone together to go indoors with her and start their first day.

In the car things were nowhere near as happy. Stiles decided to drive to a huge farmers market, to get some shopping done, also to keep Derek preoccupied and where Stiles could keep an eye on him lest Derek make his way back to the school to stalk its perimeter, or clamber up into a tree to watch from its limbs for any sign of danger.

In the sunlit room Miss Yu said she was going to call out names and if the name she called was yours then say “Here!” and tell her if she’d said your name the right way but also, if you wanted to, tell everybody something about yourself, something you liked to do, some favorite thing, something that made you happy.

Stiles had thought he’d buy the makings for Teo’s favorite meal, chicken fingers with applesauce (Teo liked to dip the chicken in the applesauce; Stiles couldn’t look at him eating it) and for a chocolate cake with maraschino cherries on top (Derek would only allow that if the ingredients, including the cherries, were organic.) But Talia had invited them to dinner at the manse, to celebrate Teo’s first day of school. She’d promised Stiles she’d make Teo’s favorite dinner and dessert. Stiles would buy Teo something special instead, once he saw something special.

In the classroom Clio Gain said she liked to help her grandmother in her garden, which she’d done just yesterday. Teo thought about his grandma Talia’s garden full of plants with sharp pointy leaves. Malachi Catto said he loved elephants and wanted a baby elephant for a pet but his parents wouldn’t let him have one. Teo knew what an elephant was. He imagined a baby elephant the size of babies he’d seen, and an elephant that little must be so much fun. Robert Agosto said his favorite thing was the Lammas festival (he’d been to his first one a month ago; it left a big impression.) Teo didn’t know what that was.

Teo could’ve started at _Rising Moon_ when he was three. _Rising Moon_ even offered toddler daycare. There was no way Derek Hale was letting other wolves get their paws on his baby. He’d only agreed—to the extent he was agreeable, which was barely—to letting Teo start at age four because Stiles had cried at the notion of his son feeling at ease only in his own pack. The world was full of many packs, _Derek_ , full of people other than those they knew. Stiles always felt isolated as a kid, except for Scott. Derek had preferred to be a _lone wolf_ , till high school, right before he first met Stiles. Teo deserved to find out about himself, deserved choices, didn’t he? And didn’t Derek want that for his son, too?—Ultimately, it was the tears.

When Miss Yu called Teodor Stilinski-Hale’s name he said he liked to draw stuff, and his daddy could draw too, and his papa could make computers draw. Miss Yu said that was wonderful and they were going to draw that day, with crayons, and Teo thought that was great; then he couldn’t wait to do that.

Stiles and Derek got home and their house felt empty. Stiles put away the yogurt he’d bought, all Teo’s favorite flavors, along with the mozzarella string cheese both Teo and Stiles loved to eat, it was such fun. Stiles had bought raisins, and chocolate bars, and strawberry licorice, a new box of 88 crayons, four new coloring books, an outer space mobile that glowed in the dark, and some new games Teo could play on the computer.

He and Derek put away the groceries, unpacked the goodies for their boy, then they held onto each other in the midst of the kitchen. They stayed that way for a while.

When Miss Yu let everybody outside onto the playground (that’s what she called it) Teo felt so happy to run around, swing on the swings or climb on the thing you could climb on. A kid came up to Teo and told him his name was Gus. Teo remembered the boy with the name August Moody when Miss Yu had called it. Gus had said his favorite thing was the big tree at his grandfather’s house, because he could climb it. Teo thought Gus smelled like trees, only the trees that were all around _his_ grandma’s and grandpa’s house. Gus also smelled a little bit like the kitchen did when Papa or Daddy made cookies. Gus smelled good.

Stiles decided to do some house-cleaning, something to make time pass. Derek was outside washing the cars, probably all three of them. Stiles felt nervous having Derek near a vehicle, but he was sick of worrying about it. They’d both made sure not to have any other place to be or anything else to do that particular day. When Stiles first imagined Teo at school and being home alone with Derek, he’d imagined their having noisy, naked sex the way they did before parenthood. That was so not happening today.

At lunch time a girl started crying because she couldn’t open her juice box and then because she wanted her mom. Teo knew some people had moms, some didn’t. Gus had _two_ moms; he’d said so. Teo didn’t have any moms but he loved his papa and daddy and didn’t want anyone else. He wondered if he should cry because he missed them now that he thought about them. But he really didn’t feel like crying. It was lunch time and he had a sandwich, and his own juice, and a big, soft oatmeal cookie with raisins in it, and an orange with the peel already off. Gus had sat down at the table with Teo and two other kids Teo didn’t know yet. Teo shared his orange with everyone at the table.

Stiles told Derek, with a tightness in his chest he hadn’t felt in a long time, that if Teo _really_ didn’t like being there— He’d had to stop, because this was serious, and he had to know whether he really meant it.

He did.

—Then Teo didn’t have to go back to _Rising Moon_. Derek looked at Stiles, the line of his lips soft. He nodded.

They were leaning side by side against the car hood. They’d gone back to the school for pick-up well ahead of time, Stiles’s conceding to Derek’s anxiety—and that was the only reason, the _only_ one. Derek said he heard lots of heartbeats from inside the school, and thought he could hear Teo’s amongst them all. Stiles just smiled. Finally another pair of parents arrived and Stiles insisted Derek come with him to chat with them. He didn’t want to be a lone human dad at a werewolf pre-school. Derek guaranteed him he would not be.

Teo was sure he’d heard his dads’ car outside. Miss Yu was talking. Miss Yu was nice but she talked a lot, like his papa. Teo liked listening to his papa but he was tired of listening to Miss Yu now. Miss Yu was reminding everybody to take the pictures they’d colored with the crayons, and their backpacks if they had one, and...

Soon as Miss Yu brought everybody outside, this time out the front way, Teo saw his papa and daddy first thing. Papa’s heart was beating so fast and Daddy’s was so _loud_. Papa hurried to him and hugged him, saying all kinds of things, touching his shirt, his neck, patting his face, putting his fingers through Teo’s hair. Daddy picked him up then, and Daddy smelled happy but the happy smell came through a smell that made Teo’s nose itch.

Stiles knew; he had a plan: _see kid, grab kid, get scent all over kid before Derek gets to kid_.

Stiles watched Derek pick up Teo and, _yeah_ , he must’ve still reeked of others, but Stiles’s scent was there too, at least fresher than a classroom of little weres’.

Derek kissed Teo’s cheek, Teo yawned, Derek grinned. _Derek grinned_.

After securing Teo in his car seat Derek said he’d just sit back there too, if Stiles didn’t mind.

Stiles didn’t mind!

Stiles’s questions were bottle-necking in his head, opportunity Derek took to ask his own questions.

Questions Teo interrupted with: “You smell funny, Daddy.”

Stiles cheeks swelled like a trumpet player’s with the laugh he was holding back. He tried to catch Derek’s eye, looking in the rear view mirror. Derek stayed focused on Teo, though obviously deliberating within how to reply.

“Sorry, Tay. Daddy missed you today.— _And so did Papa_.—Daddy felt a little sad.”

“I missed you ‘n’ Papa. But I didn’ cry.”

“It’d be OK if you’d cried, Teo,” Stiles made sure to say.

“A girl cried an’ Miz Yu hugged her.”

“That was nice of Miss Yu,” Derek said.

“So did you make some new friends today, Tay?” Stiles asked, eyes on the road.

“Yeah.” Big yawn.

“Know their names?”

“Gus an’ Tresha an’ Yeemo.” Another yawn.

Stiles repeated the third name to himself silently. Teo still pronounced his L’s like Y’s.

The names’ mystery could wait till another time.

“Baby boy needs a nap,” Stiles announced.

Home, after Teo declined a snack, Derek took him to the bathroom and gently removed the offending outer clothes, washed the drowsy boy’s face, neck, arms, hands, even wiped down his legs. He carried Teo to his and Stiles’s bed and Teo crawled to the middle of it and lay down, no need to be told. Papa had come in talking about going to grandma’s and grandpa’s for dinner later and about something special there, just for Teo. The bed moved and Teo managed to open his eyes, seeing Papa stretching out on his back at Teo’s side.

“Yeah, let’s all take a nap. It’s been a big day,” Papa said.

Daddy was on Teo’s other side, his head resting on his bent arm. He was looking down at Teo, smiling. He smelled _so_ happy.

Teo couldn’t keep awake, couldn’t even think about anything anymore even though so much had happened, so many new people, so many new things. The scents of his papa and daddy floated all around him like a happy cloud. Their heartbeats the best sound in the whole world.


End file.
